A Master Filmmaker Made a Star-Studded New Movie About ... Cancel Culture. Uh-Oh.

"The latest picture from beloved director Luca Guadagnino follows a Yale professor, Alma (Roberts), as she gets caught in the middle of a sexual assault allegation that her favorite student, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), launches against her closest male colleague, Hank (Andrew Garfield). After the Hunt is intended to be a thought-provoking film that debates the existence of cancel culture and the way today's thick political climate affects how we view identity and claims of misconduct."

"After the Hunt starts with a warning-a loud, incessant, nondiegetic ticking sound, playing over shots of Alma walking through campus. Lest there be any confusion, a metaphorical bomb will eventually explode. When we first meet our cast of intellectual elites, though, it's through the eyes of Maggie, who is staring, disaffected, at the African figurines on display in Alma's living room."

"After the Hunt is intended to be a thought-provoking film that debates the existence of cancel culture and the way today's thick political climate affects how we view identity and claims of misconduct. But, in 2025, we're far beyond simply bringing these ideas to the fore and stuffing them full of A-listers. People have been ranting about the nonexistence of cancel culture and turning the politically correct into "snowflakes" for years."

Julia Roberts plays Alma, a Yale professor who becomes entangled when her favorite student, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), accuses a close male colleague, Hank (Andrew Garfield), of sexual assault. The film stages intellectual elites quoting Kierkegaard over a parlor dinner and opens with a persistent nondiegetic ticking that signals impending rupture. The narrative probes cancel culture, identity, and misconduct claims amid a polarized political climate. The film aims for moral ambiguity but becomes muddled by trying to avoid taking firm stances. Scenes include Hank crossing a physical boundary with Maggie and Alma’s wavering responses, hinting at institutional and personal complications.

Read at Slate Magazine